The Real Deal Miami

Institutional investors ignite more deals

South Florida is attracting a major share of institutional investors, or firms that purchase at least 10 properties each calendar year.

According to a report in the Daily Business Review citing RealtyTrac’s newest data, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area was seventh nationally, with the institutional investor market share leaping to 8.6 percent from 6.3 percent a year ago.

In October, a CBRE investment fund acquired Airport Corporate Center, an 11-building office park near Miami International Airport. This summer, an undisclosed corporate buyer paid $150 million for CityPlace Tower, a 295,933-square-foot office building in West Palm Beach.

Patrick Duffy, a vice chairman in commercial broker Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Miami office, said 90 percent of the large deals are by REITs, insurance companies and pension funds. “They’re setting records in Miami Beach every day. And they’re the main buyers of trophy buildings around the country,” he told the publication. [Daily Business Review] – Jennifer White Karp